California currently faces an unprecedented drought, and its governor, Edmund G. Brown, issued an executive order April 1 for cities and towns to reduce water use by 25 percent.
Here are five things to know about hospital water use and how hospitals can conserve, presented by the Los Angeles Times.
1. Hospitals are some of the biggest water users, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, yet many do not try to be water efficient. In addition to wasting a limited resource, hospitals with water inefficiencies flush money down the drain. An audit at Oceanside, Calif.-based Tri-City Medical Center identified a plan to save 10 million gallons water annually, according to the report. Savings on utilities and government rebates for water-saving equipment can help offset costs of water-saving programs.
2. Equipment sterilizers are often a source of waste, especially older models, which can waste a gallon or more of water per minute, according to the report. The general manager of Long Beach, Calif.-based Water Saver Solutions, William Cordray, told The Los Angeles Times you can hear sterilizers wasting water — it sounds like a running toilet. To reduce this waste, retrofit kits bring old sterilizers up to date with holding tanks to cool hot water, rather than cooling it with a continuous flow of cold water.
3. Water inefficiencies are also traced back to faucets without aerators. Aerators, which limit water flow, have been largely eliminated from hospitals since they have been linked to higher rates of infectious pathogens. However, without aerators, water floods out of faucets. Hospitals should instead use “laminars,” which restrict flow and have an antimicrobial coating.
4. Adjusting hospitals’ water cooling mechanisms can generate savings. Installing separate coolers for radiation oncology and MRI equipment can save water, and so can adjusting the water chemistry and operating parameters of a facility’s cooling towers.
5. Some of the biggest savings can be found by simply fixing leaks. Leaks may go undetected for years, but they should be the first place hospitals and healthcare facilities look to save water, Clark Reed, national program manager for the EPA’s Energy Star Commercial Buildings program, told the Los Angeles Times.
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